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Internet-naming czar Icann decided that there’s not enough digital land to be had on the current top level domains, such as .com and .edu, so it’s creating new frontiers. Starting in 2013, there will be thousands of new domains, such as .pizza, .app, .google, and, fingers crossed, .howstupidisthis.

There’s a considerable price tag attached to controlling one of those new domains. It costs $185,000 to apply for each one, and competition is fierce for a few of the possibilities:

[Google] wants .google, .youtube, .goog and .plus. It was the only applicant vying for .fly, .new and .eat. But it is going to have to fight Johnson & Johnson for .baby, Microsoft for .docs and .live, and Amazon for 17 top-level domains: .wow, .search, .shop, .drive, .free, .game, .mail, .map, .movie, .music, .play, .shop, .show, .spot, .store, .talk and .you. Amazon also went after .tunes, .got, .author, .smile, .song, .joy, .bot, .like and .call… The most sought-after extension is .app, with 13 applicants though not Apple, which popularized the mobile application.

Google is going after more than 100, including .lol and .love. Apple, keeping its commitment to minimalism, is applying just for .apple. Facebook though is not going e-prospecting with its competitors.

“Facebook did not apply for .facebook or any other new top level domains,” says spokesperson Andrew Noyes.

The company may be taking the wait-and-see approach, to determine if having a top level domain is actually worthwhile. And there may be no need to sit on the name given that Icann has made clear it’s respecting trademarks when handing these out. Facebook will surely object if .facebook is awarded to someone else.

There is also a lingering question about whether the new suffixes are needed at all. Some top-level domains that Icann has created in previous, smaller expansion rounds have attracted little interest. Many consumers find Web sites via search engines, rather than typing in an exact Web address. Others are increasingly using mobile applications, rather than the open Internet.

If the Web is truly on its deathbed, as Wired has claimed, those spending money on this may be .throwingitaway. Their money would be better spent on better mobile apps.

There’s some bad news for all those people, universities and companies that shelled out money to secure their .xxx address last year in order to protect their brands. They may be disappointed to learn that .porn and .sex will likely be coming out soon creating more opportunities to give a person, business or school an unwanted sexy touch.

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Question- I thought the whole point of .xxx was that (at some point) all adult material would be there, thus readily findable (if desired) and readily avoided (if not desired).

Doesn’t .porn and .sex kinda mess that up? Or are those still clear enough that no one would accidently stuble into them? Also, is Icann (or any other body) actively cleaning the smut off of things other than .xxx ?

I’m sure that’s a dumb question, but I haven’t been following the issue, and your last sentence sparked the question.

In a brief trip around the Web, that likely got me flagged by the Forbes IT team, it appears there’s still plenty of smut on the .coms. As I understand it, the push to move porn to .XXX is recommended but not mandatory.

It is absurd to “sell” any high level identifier (such as dot pizza, dot love, and so on). It is absurd to even limit these to only certain ones. Just like anyone can get a dot com as long as the next level identifier is available. so it should be for dot pizza. If PapaJohns owns PapaJohns.pizza, it should not block Dominoes from obtaining dominos.pizza, nor TonysLocal.pizza . The only levels that should be reserve-able should be the middle level, not the high level, or suffix.

The force that gave birth to the Internet was more akin to the force uniting than that of dividing, excluding, and conquering. People all across the globe want to be able to be more connected to each other and to our combined information. For this reason, I think the “Internet Land Grab” is little more than another scheme aimed at egoistic domination. The signs of the times point in the direction of increasing integrality and connection. The delicate balance of nature will ultimately not tolerate anything other than increasing cooperation and harmonization. Perhaps Facebook is wise and reads the writing on the wall. For those who waste resources on selfish egoism, it may soon be time to pay the piper. Their schemes will crumble and fall because they are out of sync with the natural system.

With search engines having a unique name is obsolete. Just type in what you want and bam you get instant results for your query. It’s like having a unique telephone number. Name one person that still obsesses over unique telephone numbers – excluding crazy arab millionaires of course – thanks to modern cell phones you just have to save the number and you will never ever see the number again, only thing you need is the name of the person. Another dumb bubble, if you ask me. And Icann is retarded.